Oppo becomes smartphone market leader in China

OPPO launch
Chinese smartphone maker Oppo is now the leader in the home smartphone market with 23 percent market share, followed by Huawei with 17.4 percent and Vivo with 12 percent.

Oppo’s market share right now is also more than both Apple and Samsung combined in China. Apple’s share in China has shrunk to 2014 levels at nine percent and Xiaomi is at a three-year low with 6.8 percent.

Back in 2014, Oppo was responsible for less than two per cent of the smartphones sold in China.

By June 2015, Oppo’s share has grown up to 6.1 per cent and now in June this year, its up to a historic high at 22.9 percent.

Prior to this, Huawei and Xiaomi were leading the way. In fact, Xiaomi appears to only make 6.8 percent of China’s smartphones, down from 15.1 percent in the previous year.

Oppo R9, sold elsewhere as Oppo F1 Plus, is the best-selling device in June with five percent market share.

Oppo will be launching its next selfie-focused smartphone, the Oppo F1s, a successor to the popular Oppo F1 device, on August 3.

Billed as a “selfie expert,” the device can have some improvements in the camera compared to that of its predecessor but it’s still not confirmed exactly what will be better this time around.

Huawei profit up 40%

Riding on smartphone sales like its flagship H1 device, Chinese smartphone maker Huawei has posted a 40 per cent half-yearly profit.

“We are confident that Huawei will maintain its current momentum, and round out the full year in a positive financial position backed by sound ongoing operations,” androidauthority.com quoted Sabrina Meng, Chief Financial Officer, Huawei, as saying.

Huawei’s flagship products such as the P9, Mate 8, Honor V8 and MateBook have all won significant support from consumers around the world.

“Huawei has also become one of the most favoured brands in nearly 30 countries,” added Meng.

H1 smartphone revenue is up 40 percent over the same period last year despite a recent downturn.

While the company did not provide a per-division breakdown of the figures, it reported audited sales revenue across its three core businesses of $36.7 billion, the report noted.

Although the reception of the Huawei P9 might not have been as strong as the company would have liked, the upcoming Mate S2 and Mate 9 (expected at IFA 2016 in Berlin in September) will likely set the flagship record straight, the report added.